Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Portrayal of gifted in mass media and advertising

A recent orange juice commercial on TV says:
"Ahhh, my precious oranges. You, my little ones, are gifted. Never let them tell you any differently, because you are special, destined for greatness. To create the most perfectly delicious orange juice in the world. Apparently, the juice doesn't fall far from the tree..."

This sounds elitist and self-congratulatory and does not portray being "gifted" in a manner which helps build understanding of the gifted community.

Yes, I do think that there are some real issues with people co-opting the word "gifted", which is actually meant to describe (for want of a better word) condition, as a way to say "has gifts". Everyone has gifts. this is not up for debate.

For some reason, everyone having gifts, and using the word gifted as a means of excluding people that are not actually "gifted" is the height of offense.

I think it is silly.

That said. Maybe the best thing is to let the special snowflakes have gifted and adopt a different word to describe those who are gifted. Maybe something that doesn't sound so complimentary, as the reality of raising a gifted kid means that we have also been able to name each and every one of our gray hairs.

And then there was this episode of Leave it to Beaver. They don't use the word "gifted". And they place all their determination on a single test score.

Excellent "Leave It To Beaver" episode! Thanks for sharing. In half an hour, it sums up many aspects of the dilemma of being gifted, from the child's, friends', parents', and school's perspectives.

On the other hand, it is not an overly optimistic or positive message about society's acceptance and support of high intelligence.

Evidently "Part Time Genius" was Season 1, Episode 14 of "Leave It To Beaver", and originally aired in January 1958; It is both sad and disappointing to see how little has changed in nearly 50 years, with regard to the gifted.

In this episode we see:
- Parental braggadocio (Willis 'Corny' Cornelius)
- Parent feeling his ego has been trounced, after listening to another parent expound upon his own child's academic/intellectual achievements (Ward)
- Parent being self-congratulatory, recounting former glory days, taking children's academic grades and possible high intelligence as a positive self-reflection (Ward)
- Kids understanding that an intelligence test is not something to study for (Wally)
- Parents wanting to prep children for intelligence test (Ward)
- School declaring they are not prepared to teach an exceptional child (Principal Rayburn)
- Child experiencing the pain of negative social stigma from being regarded as smartest in the class (Beaver, Charlie)
- Parents being relieved to learn their child is not the one who received the highest mark in the school, deciding to accept each child as an individual with strengths and weaknesses (Ward)

This reminds me of today's quote: "Comparison is the thief of joy."

(BTW, I did notice the word "gifted"... just once... spoken by the school headmaster at about 17:28, about halfway through the 30-minute episode.)

Indigo, in nearly 60 years lol!

Thank you!

typo -or- math error???
you be the judge

Agreeing with you on this, its almost like a cover. Shifting gifted to none human objects. So what someone mentions gifted, the next person thinks oranges.


However, if I may, I do agree with this part: "Never let them tell you any differently" To which, no person should be taught to think less than they are capable of.

The most recent version of this TV spot has been edited, removing the reference to being "gifted".

Before: "Ahhh, my precious oranges. You, my little ones, are gifted. Never let them tell you any differently, because you are special, destined for greatness. To create the most perfectly delicious orange juice in the world. Apparently, the juice doesn't fall far from the tree..."

After: "My precious oranges, destined for greatness, to create the most perfectly delicious orange juice in the world. Apparently, the juice doesn't fall far from the tree..."

The character Brick Heck in the TV series The Middle (2009-2018) is gifted and twice exceptional (2e). He exhibits a tic called palilalia.

Brick is described as

We just told our 7-year old that he is gifted. When I asked if he knew what that meant, he said 'smart'. I asked if he understood that being gifted simply means his brain thinks a little differently than everyone else his age. And I told him that it doesn't mean he's better than everyone else. He looked at me and said 'yeah mom. I know. But it doesn't make me worse than everyone else either.'